M E R 
fcnt edifice, which was finifhed in the year nJj. The am¬ 
bitious Owen Glendower feized and took pofl'effion of it in 
1404-5 but Henry IV. lent an army into Wales foon after¬ 
wards, and dillodged that chieftain. In 1460 it became 
the place of refuge and fecurity to Margaret of Anjou, 
who fled here for protection after the difaftrous battle of 
Northampton, when Henry VI. was defeated. In the 
fanguinary wars between the houfes of York and Lancafter, 
thi°fortrel's was obftinately defended by Dafydd ap Efan 
ap Einion, on the part of the latter party : an army under 
the command of the earl of Pembroke at length compelled 
him to furrender it in 1468. In the civil wars between 
king Charles I. and the parliament, this caftle was the laft 
in Wales that was held in behalf of the monarch. Since 
that period it has gradually been mouldering to ruins 5 
and, though its architectural forms may ftill be traced, its 
■ interior arrangement and fittings-up are nearly obliterated. 
The fcenery and antiquities of the environs are grand, 
curious, and worthy of the traveller’s particular attention 
and enquiry. In the year 1692 an ancient golden torques 
was dug up near the caftle, and was committed to the care 
of fir Roger Mollyn. Several Roman coins have been 
found near the fame fpot. For further particulars, the 
reader is referred to Pennant’s, Bingley’s, Wyndham’s, 
Evans’s, Warner’s, and Aikin’s, refpeftive Tours inWales. 
MERIS'MA, f [from pepo-pos, Gr. adivilion, alluding 
to the divided or branched nature of this fungus.] In bo¬ 
tany, a. genus of the clafs cryptogamia, order fungi.— Ej- 
J'ential C/tar after. Branching, leathery, compreffed, even ; 
for the tnoft part hairy at the top. This genus confifts of 
feven fpecies in Perfoon, differing from Clavaria chiefly 
in their compreffed dilated form, for the hairinefs is avow- 
■edly not conftant. We fhall only mention two fpecies, 
which feem to thrive in the woods of Lufatia. 
■ -1. Merifma criftatum 1 brown. Its colour is a pleafing 
mixture of biftre and purple, except that the prominences 
at top are of a pallid tint. The fuperfice appears mealy ; 
its ramification towards the top is compofed of acute fila¬ 
ments, flat and hardly fpiflated. The fimell is mufty and 
faint. The outfide is rough, tuberous in fome parts, and 
fprinkled with a fine whitilli powder, the top more or lefs 
briftly j the fubftance is thin, moift, membranaceous-, and 
vifcons. This fpecies has chofen its tranquil abode on 
the margins of forefts, where, fheltered by the verdant 
curtain of the trees, the foil is full of moifture. It incruf- 
tates branches fallen down and lying on the ground, leaves 
detached from the boughs, all forts of mofs, See. and flou- 
rilhes in the middle of September. 
2. Merifma foetidum: purplifn brown, ereft. Its feti- 
dity conftitutes the principal difference from the above- 
delcribed fpecies. It frequents the higheft forefts, where 
the elevation of the ground is lefs liable to a fuperabun- 
dance of humidity 5 but feelns to delight in the company 
of lichens and moffes, to whom Nature has given it a fort 
of affinity. It appears from Auguft to December. 
MERIS'MUS, /! [Greek.] A divifion 5 a proper arrange¬ 
ment according to the rules of rhetoric. 
MER'IT, f. [meritum , Lat. merite, Fr.] Defert; excel¬ 
lence deferving honour or reward : 
She deem’d I well deferv’d to die, 
And made a merit of her cruelty. Dryden. 
Rofcommon, not more learn’d than good, 
With manners gen’rous as his noble blood ; 
To him the wit of Greece and Rome was known, 
And ev’ry author’s merit but his own. Pope. 
She valu’d nothing lefs 
Than titles, figure, fhape, and drefs ; 
That merit Ihould be chiefly plac’d 
In judgment, knowledge, wit, and tafte. Swift. 
Reward deferved: 
Thofe laurel groves, the merits of thy youth. 
Which thou from Mahomet didft greatly gain. 
While, bold affertor of refiftlefs truth, 
Thy fword did godlike liberty maintain. Prior. 
M E R 151 
Claim; right; character with refpeft to defert of good or 
evil.—When a point hath been well examined, and our 
own judgment fettled, after a large Ihrvey of the merits of 
the caule, it would be a weaknels to continue fluttering. 
Watts. 
You have the captives; ufe them. 
As we fhall find their merits and our fafety 
May equally determine. Shakefpeave’s King Lear. 
Merit," the name of three different orders of Knight¬ 
hood. See that article, vol. xi. p. 821, 2. 
To MER'IT, v a. To delerve ; to have a right to claim 
any thing as deferved.—A man at belt is uncapable of 
meriting any thing from God. South's Sermons. 
Amply have merited of me, of all 
Th’ infernal empire. ■ Milton's Paradife LnJL 
To deferve ; to earn: it is ufed generally of good, but 
fometimes of ill.—Whatfoever jewels I have 'merited , I am 
fure I have received none, unlefs experience be a jewel; 
that I have purchafed at an infinite rate. Shakefpeare's 
Merry Wives of Windfor. 
If fuch rewards to vanquifh’d men are due, 
What prize may Nilus from your bounty claim. 
Who merited the firft rewards, and fame ? Dryden. 
MERITO'RIOUS, adj. Deferving of reward ; high in 
defert.—Sufficient means of redemption and falvation, by 
the fatisfaftory and meritorious death and obedience of the 
incarnate Son of God, Jelus Chrift, God bleffed for ever. 
Sanderfon. 
MERITO'RIOUSLY, adv. In fuch a manner as to de¬ 
ferve reward.—He carried himfelf meritorionfly in foreign 
employments in time of the interdict, which held up his 
credit among the patriots. Wotton. 
MERITO'RIOUSNESS, J. The aft or ftate of deferving 
well.—There was a full perfuafion of the high meritoriouf- 
nefs of what they did ; but ftill there was no law of God 
to ground it upon, and confequently it was not confluence. 
South. 
MER'ITZHAUSEN, a town of Swifferland : five miles 
north of Schaffhaufen. 
MER'ITOT, or Mer'itote, f. A kind of play among 
children, in which they fwing or turn round till they are 
giddy. Chaucer. 
MER'IWETHER, a town of Virginia: four miles eaft 
of Charlottefville. 
MERK, a river of Brabant, which paffes by Breda, 
and joins the Meufe, dividing into two ftreams at its 
mouth, and forming an ifland, on which are the towns of 
Clundert and Willemftadt. 
MER'KA, a town of Pruffia, in the palatinate of Culm: 
ten miles north-north-eaft of Thorn. 
MER'KAB. See Merchab, p. 134. 
MER'K ALL,/ A mealure in India, equal to fix quarts• 
five make a para at Madras. 
MERKAR'RY, f. Dues or taxes levied at ferries in 
India. 
MERKE'I, a river of Syria, which runs into the Me 1 
diterranean three miles fouth of Baneas. 
MER'KET I'SLANDS, a clufter of final! i(lands in thfi 
Red Sea, near the coaft of Arabia. Lat. 18. 10. N. 
MER'KENDORF, a town of Germany, in the marg- 
gravate of Anfpach : feven miles fouth-eaft of Anfpach, 
and twenty-four fouth-weft of Nuremberg. 
MERK'LIN, a town of Bohemia, in the circle of Pilfen : 
fifteen miles fouth-fouth-weft of Piffen. 
MER'LAND, a village of Devonflure, in the parifh of 
Padftow, fo called from its fituation by the Meer. Brackifh 
waters iffue out of pits in the moors here, though it is at 
leaft twelve miles from the fea.— Merland-Peters, another 
little village, to the north-weft of the above, fo called 
from its church, dedicated to St. Peter. 
MERLE,/ [French.] A blackbird: 
Merry it is in the good green wood, 
When mavis and?ner/«arg tinging. Scott's Lady of the Lake. 
MERLEN'GQ, 
